SLS free reviews - update and wishlist

I've been trying a couple of SLS free products recently that I thought I ought to review for my fellow senstive of skin readers.

 Naked Ooh La La Body Wash, £3.79, 250ml

This brand is one of the most readily available SLS free ranges out there, stocked in most Boots. It's the first one I tried, and I've gone through most of the fragrances. The Rose is quite lovely and sweet, but a bit one-dimensional for use everyday, and it's not half as moisturising as Ooh La La. This one isn't foodie-scented, but it does have a deep, sweet and very soothing fragrance that is a joy to use. The lather is creamy, and it doesn't leave skin feeling stripped or tight. It's a lovely little everyday indulgence.

Liz Earle Botanical Shine Shampoo, £8.50, 200ml

Oh my days. This is THE best SLS-free shampoo I've ever used, hands down. (And I've tried many, including Daniel Galvin Junior, Naked, Body Shop and more). This lathers ok (much better when I repeat, which I tend to do because I wash my hair twice a week), but cleans so very effectively without at all drying or stripping the hair. And I have very dry hair. It has never irritated my dry, sensitive scalp, and the scent is pleasantly soapy-herbal and doesn't leave a trace when hair is dry. Most importantly, it leaves your hair so shiny and swishy and soft. I've never had that from an SLS-free shampoo, particularly the shine. An £8.50 tube lasts me months and months, so I view it as excellent value. Really, a godsend in shampoo form if you have a temperamental scalp. Or if you like your hair.

Faith in Nature Chocolate Shower Gel/Bath Foam, £5.45, 400ml

My hunt for foodie SLS free bath and shower products is neverending. Is vanilla an irritant? Because it seems that all SLS free products are scented with either geranium (the poor man's rose in my opinion) or lavender, or both. It's. So. Boring.

So I was quite excited when I discovered this product online over the summer. Chocolatey? SLS-free? Yes please. Reviews led me to believe this had a wonderful, soothing scent.

And it does smell faintly chocolately and rich when you open the bottle and take a good sniff. But that's about it. It is barely detectable on lathering. Furthermore, I was really cross to find that this brand that markets itself as "natural" and SLES-free in fact uses ammonium laureth sulfate, which is just as bad as SLS (and I've had terrible reactions to some ALS shampoos). I'm usually very careful about reading ingredient listings, so I'm not sure how this passed me by, but I was really disappointed. The massive bottle for £5.45 is ok value in theory, but I can't actually wait to finish it and move on. I haven't tried it in the bath because I very much doubt there'd be any scent at all, but it might be a good way to finish it!

And what will I be moving on to? I'm very curious about the following:

Korres Vanilla, Freesia and Lychee Shower Gel, £9, 250ml

I've heard great things about this in shower gel and fragrance form, and the combination of floral/fruit/vanilla sounds both sophisticated and delicious. In fact it provides SLS free folks with a rare opportunity to layer scented products because so many regular fragrance sets use the cheapest foaming agents available.

Soap and Glory Whipped Clean Shower Butter, £8, 250ml

Ooh, "shower butter." That sounds lovely doesn't it? When I was at uni, and only had access to a shower, and was stressed out of my brain trying to finish my PhD, I searched and searched for products that could give a bath-like experience (soothing, comforting) in the shower. Lush's now discontinued Almond Coconut Shower Smoothie was as close as I got (and it was lovely, sniff). But this sounds pretty on the money too!

I've tried to find out what Sodium Trideceth Sulfate is, and from some googling it seems it is much milder than SLS and its variants, so the scent of this and the promise that it is moisturising makes me very keen to try it. From a quick try in Boots, it smells INCREDIBLE.

Greenscape Organic Cocoa Butter Shower Gel, £7.15, 500ml

Ah John Lewis/Waitrose. How I love thee, and thy stocking of diverse SLS-free ranges. I happened upon this range in my local JL, and had a bit of a sniff, and it smelt sweet and promising. Before I encountered the Soap and Glory, this was highest on the list, but I'm a fickle rabbit and the massive size of this is putting me off!

S&G will be the next I purchase once I've finished the Faith in Nature one.

Have you come across any delectable SLS free ranges? 

Winter Wedding

Winter Wedding by nazneen372 featuring teardrop earrings

Dress
joythestore.com

Shoes
office.co.uk

Teardrop earrings
oliverbonas.com

Hair accessory
johnny-loves-rosie.com

Darling Edie Frame Bag
darlingclothes.com

I am absolutely thrilled and excited about a few events coming up over the next few months - including a cocktail party themed birthday bash and most wonderfully, the wedding of two of dear, dear friends.

I love weddings, and haven't been to enough! Although it's a good few months away, I have already put my outfit together because I'm nerdy like that. I suppose most people wouldn't wear this much colour to a winter wedding - but I think British gloom makes it all the more important to break out sunny, happy colours.

I've had this dress in my wardrobe unworn for a while, and it is perfect for such an occasion - structured enough and made of a love heavy cotton stretch that will be warm but also comfortable. And it has pockets! Usually I go a bit mad on buying new stuff for a wedding outfit but for this one I'm almost totally sorted already. The glitter shoes are an amazing pair I picked up on Office's website for £12, whilst the bag is a lovely textured leather one from Darling via Brandalley for £22. I do love a bargain, me. The only two pieces I do not own here are the headband and the earrings! I love the hairband which is dramatic enough to give the dress a bit of edge and quirk and be appropriately hat-like for the occasion without at all veering into yucky fascinator-ville.

I've sometimes gone too crazy with the colour palette and my makeup at weddings, so this time I am trying to unite everything by keeping the main two accessories (head/toe) purple, with two hints of colours in the print in the jewels and the bag (how pretty and vintage looking are the earrings!). I will opt for a simple and pretty makeup look with a soft taupe eye, black flick and defined red lips and matching nails. The hair will be down to keep things a bit more relaxed, I think.

To winterise it, there will be thick black tights, and I plan to wear as a cover up an old but lovely and very 50s olive green cropped jacket I have from Topshop, with some long elbow length wool gloves in pale grey.

Magpie-Rabbit: Accessorize

I love jewellery. It's an inherited, quite culturally specific thing in some respects - when we were children, my mother used to drag us around all the jewellery shops looking for just the right pair of earrings to match a necklace or vice versa. It was drilled into me through these searches that it is important to accessorize an outfit with jewels - but always tastefully, always appropriately. My mother's great love is pearls, which I've also inherited.

But as any child is wont to do, I've taken those lessons, and I've taken them in directions my mother doesn't always approve of. I love costume jewellery as much as fine pieces and over the years I have amassed quite a collection. My jewellery tends to be like my clothes - girly, quirky but not too "out there." Being small, I prefer smaller, delicate pieces - I love little charm necklaces (teacups, rabbits, cupcakes, time-turners, snowflakes, I own them all), stud earrings or 1cm drop earrings that just frame the face, though for evenings and so on I do also like a good pair of chandelier earrings.

Accessorize (and this is not a sponsored post in any way!) for many years has been one of my favourite shops on the high street (especially during their 70% sales!)  I can browse in there for hours! They're having a particularly good season this winter so I thought I would pick out some of my favourites that I'll be watching out for in the next sale.

A pair of bow pearl studs is a staple in my jewellery wardrobe - bows are a very flattering shape and the tiny seed style pearls are so pretty and antique-looking. They go with almost everything so I always take them on my travels:

£4

I've played with these a lot in store - they're so glowy and beautiful! 

£12

 These are also quite high on my wishlist, to wear with my emerald lace skater dress. I love how Indian they are in style, they would go equally as well with a sari or salwaar kameez:

£10

This is utterly gorgeous and very expensive looking I think. There's a beautiful matching cuff and earrings (though wearing all 3 together would be crazy). I think with a navy dress, this would be so bewitching and glamorous.

£15

And finally, a little gothic beauty just to show how they have a bit of everything!

£15

What are your favourite costume jewellery pieces? Did you have a jewel-mad mum like me?

Rabbit Recipes: Persian Chicken Pilaf

This is a recipe that divides the Bartimaeus-Rabbit household. I love it. Bartimaeus doesn't. I think it's as a result of our differing South Asian backgrounds - Muslim Bengali cuisine always nods towards its Mughal connections to Afghanistan and Persia, with aromatics like cardamom, cinnamon, and bay used liberally in biryanis and lamb and chicken dishes. Gujarati food is plainer, simpler, flavoured more with asofoetida (I am just beginning to see its point) and mustard seeds. It's, in my opinion, Bartimaeus' loss as this is delicious, indulgent and rich. And really very easy.

The magic of this dish is that as the chicken roasts on the bed of rice and vegetables, it creates its own stock and that the sticky, caramel-coloured rice will be some of the most chickeny, savoury. flavourful rice you'll ever have.

To be honest this was a result of visualising something in my mind, having various things in my fridge, and bunging it all together - so while there looks like an awful lot of ingredients (suggesting muchos effort) it's really not the case. I roasted the rice under the spiced chicken pieces, but as it took hours for the rice to cook and some it still remained crispy (some people like it, but crunchy rice sets my teeth on edge) in the recipe here I'm recommend boiling the rice first. I do hate it when a recipe only tells you halfway in that it needs 24 hours' marinading time so let me tell you from the off: THIS RECIPE DEFINITELY TASTES BETTER WITH AFTER 24 HOURS' MARINADING TIME.

2 cups of basmati rice (I used a mix of brown and white for texture and fibre)
half a butternut squash cut into 0.5 cm cubes
1 aubergine cut into 0.5 cm cubes
1 red onion, chopped
1 bulb of garlic (keep half unpeeled)
1 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp pine nuts
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
garam masala
cumin
ground coriander
3 tbsp frozen peas
1 tsp green sultanas (or regular sultanas if you can't find them)
6-8 prunes
1/2 tsp of saffron
3 tbsp greek yoghurt
6 chicken thighs
1 cup good chicken stock

1. Soak saffron in 1 tsp of hot water and crush 4-5 garlic cloves into a pulp.
2. Mix the saffron and the water into the greek yoghurt with salt and pepper and add the pulped garlic. Add one lemon's juice to the mix.
3. Mix the chicken thighs into the yoghurt marinade (score the pieces to get the flavours into the chicken).
4. Leave for at least two hours, or if possible, overnight.
5. Preheat the oven to 200C.
6. Boil the rice until just cooked (but not soft).
7. In a large roasting dish, combine the rice with all the remaining ingredients (fruit, spices, peas, squash, aubergine, onion, unpeeled garlic cloves). Drizzle some olive oil over (not much as the chicken fat will also soak into the rice). Flatten it down with a spoon to create an even surface.
8. Place chicken pieces on top of the rice/vegetable bed. Pour over remaining marinade over the chicken and the rice. I place the chicken skin side down first and then halfway through cooking, I turn them over to crisp up.
9. Bung in the oven!
10. Check on it intermittently. If the rice looks dry, splash over a bit of the chicken stock.
11. Remove when the chicken is cooked and nicely browned (45minutes ish?)
12 Serve to guests with refined (i.e. non-Gujarati) palates.

The Velveteen Rabbit

Irresistible title, that, for a post by me on velvet dresses. Hard to believe, but I've never read that book. I really should, shouldn't I?

Anyway, when I was a child I had some beautiful velvet dresses and skirts. There's something so luxurious and yet comforting about a good quality velvet fabric. 

With the return of the gothic this autumn-winter, a few velvet dresses have been making an appearance of late (including this galaxy number I'm STILL obsessed with). Velvet, like last season's lace, is really versatile for winter - you can add a chunky cardigan and boots for day, and you can add jewels and pretty shoes for evening. I've accessorised my favourite dressy and casual velvet frocks (really, doesn't Polyvore remind you of those cardboard dolls with all the cut out tabbed clothing and accessories?).

Velveteen Weekend by nazneen372 on Polyvore

Lofty Pointelle Deco Snood
uk.accessorize.com

Clothing at Tesco | F&F Cotton rich tights > tights > Socks & Hosiery...
clothingattesco.com

Velveteen Wedding by nazneen372 featuring a beaded clutch purse

Adrianna Papell dress
johnlewis.com

Monsoon
£59 - monsoon.co.uk

Beaded clutch purse
uk.accessorize.com

Women's Black Schuh Clara Bow T-Bar Polka Dots at Schuh
schuh.co.uk

Resuming regular transmission

I just wanted to say thanks to you all for all your emails, comments and kind, kind words on my last post. Frivolity (heartily encouraged by my therapist no less) will return to the blog shortly. But I couldn't not acknowledge the kindness of my readers and friends. I'm a lucky rabbit indeed, and I will get there.

No Worries: for Depression Awareness Month

I had an odd experience today. A somewhat muted version of a “eureka” moment.

I was on the tube, reading my Kindle.  There was a woman on my left, writing things on her copy of the Evening Standard. Suddenly I became aware of the fact that she could – and was – able to see what I was reading. My stomach lurched and I immediately shut my Kindle up. (No, I wasn’t reading that ridiculous book, but much less excitingly, Overcoming Perfectionism, as recommended by my therapist).

In doing so, I glanced over in her direction, at her copy of the Standard. On it she had written words including (I tried not to read-read as it would have been rude, but these jumped out) “I resent myself at work,” “self-esteem,” “OCD” and “not safe.”

For a moment, I felt the world stop. And then I decided finally to write and publish this post, one which I’ve been thinking about for a few days.

What happened when the world stopped? I realised three things:

1. I am incredibly self-conscious about admitting I have mental health issues, I find it very difficult to talk about them and I fear people discovering I have them. I possibly even feel ashamed I have them.

2. My instinctive assumption is that people will judge/criticise/pity me and see me as pathetic/weak/a failure if I do “own up” to the said mental health issues (I now have The Saturdays’ ghastly “Issues” song in my head).

BUT, here’s the thing:

3.  I’m actually far less alone in battling mental health issues than I have ever possibly conceived.

At the beginning of this year I was signed off work for “low mood” for three weeks. I had been having difficulty sleeping, I was crying all the time, and I had started to think some dark thoughts. I avoided going outside because loud noises and cars were terrifying me. I was jumpy. My thoughts were just a chain of worries, peppered with thoughts of how useless I am.

I have been depressed before, which is why I was a bit more able to talk about it with my loved ones, who were able to recognise signs and suggest I go to the GP. I was also very, very lucky to have had an appointment with the only decent GP at my surgery of 5, who gave me 45 minutes (35 of which should have been her lunch hour) in order to talk and be listened to.

I was prescribed anti-anxiety medication and referred to my local Mental Health services. Since then I have had a course of telephone therapy (a half an hour a week call) which I found both nerve-wracking and frustrating, but a step in the right direction. Indeed, for a while, I thought I had sorted things.

But I think my mind is actually in a series of complicated knots, and I’d only begun to untie them. It was quite easy, in the month in which my telephone therapy ended, and whilst I waited for a referral to face-to-face cognitive behavioural therapy, for those knots to knit themselves back together again and things quickly got fairly dark again.

My therapist says I’m a perfectionist. I’ve found this very hard to process – because I don’t think I’m good enough to be one. She thinks this is hilariously typical of a perfectionist. I’m coming around to seeing that my thought patterns are overwhelmingly governed by achievement, striving, and their dark Others, failure and inertia. I basically worry about failing and letting people down, all of the time. It doesn’t make sense, does it? But it rules my life at the moment.

To illustrate, here’s a rundown of a few hours of this week that show what it’s like to have an anxiety disorder combined with perfectionism (at least for me):

Wednesday

1. Think about packing to leave for London trip and speaking event.

2. Feel dizzy at the prospect of doing everything before leaving (washing up, tidying, packing exactly    the right things, not forgetting important things).

3. Put head in sand for a bit.

4. Take head out of sand, look at time, freak out.

5. Pack in a mad dash and leave with just about enough time (10 minutes) to get to the station and arrive eventually at event in time.

6. Undercurrent of nerves buzzing because I don’t feel prepared enough to speak.

7. Make notes on train, which are ok, but then realise as London approaches, that I will only just about make my event on time.

7. Freak out (internally, silently, but also quite intensely).

8. Arrive in London and madly try to update Oyster card and work out fastest route even though I’ve done journey hundreds of times. 

9. Actually end up standing like a rabbit in the headlights for 7 minutes as I can’t decide what to do.

10. Keep looking at different clocks all of which have different times and panic madly.

11. Get on tube, eventually.

12. Try to think that I’m on the tube, I can’t get there faster.

13. Doesn’t work, instead I chastise myself for not being more organised, at the same time freaking out about being late. Visualise the organisers calling me repeatedly, audience assembled, all waiting for me.

14. Get off tube, walk mega-fast to event building, getting sweaty and breathless.

15. Am THREE minutes late, and am told that event won’t actually start until 7.15 (which, deep down, I also suspected would happen).

16. Try to calm down, but then start freaking out about my speech/the possible questions/how I’ll match up (I will not) to other speakers.

17. Event goes well but I think I could have structured speech better. I don’t feel proud but annoyed with myself instead.

18. Adrenaline stops rushing around as everyone goes for post-event meal.

19. KNACKERED. Want to sleep FOR EVER.

20. Morning after – just want to sleep/hide/sleep.

Looking over that, it’s not a wonder now that I’ve been rundown and ill all summer, and that a massive chunk of my hair has fallen out.

Why have I decided to write this? So many people, when I’ve told them I have an anxiety disorder (heck, even some depressives) have asked me “but you’re so happy?” or, “what have YOU got to be worried about?” I know I can come across as a bright, sunny, extrovert of a person. I’ve lived through stuff that’s made me resilient (if not tough), and my instinct is to nurture and look after rather than be looked after. I don’t anymore, wear pain on my sleeve. And because I don’t want to fail, seem weak, or impose on people, it’s almost impossible for me to come back from such responses. I want to say to them: look, it’s not that my life is filled with worries – it’s that my life is all about the worrying. But I don’t. I just clam up. I say I’m doing ok.

But if it was someone else telling me about GAD (how’s that for an ironic acronym for General Anxiety Disorder), depression, bipolar disorder, OCD or something else troubling them, I’d want to tell them it’s ok not to be ok. That’s what seeing the woman on the Tube brought home to me. Lots of people are not ok. My therapist says I’ve put myself on a treadmill, trying to achieve, succeed, be perfect, exhausting myself, getting nowhere. I see now that lots of us are on parallel treadmills, all battling our particular demons, and all thinking we’re the only one on one.

This is a long post, and if you’ve made it thus far I really do salute you. But the point I wished to make is that I’m struggling – struggling to allow myself to just be happy, even to just be. It’s actually far harder than I thought – than it sounds. But I’m not the only one. And that makes it a bit easier. So I just wanted to put this out there for anyone else who’s on a difficult emotional journey:  we are all co-travellers.